PETE OXLEY

For more than three decades Pete Oxley has been a shining light in the world of jazz. His art was fine tuned during a decade in Paris whilst playing with the New Noakes Quartet.

Pete also help set up Oxford's contemporary jazz club The Spin which has played host to the best of modern jazz. Pete Oxley is very much a people person and has recorded with many talented musicians including Luis D’Agostino. Recently Pete released a second collaboration with Nicolas Meier, the stunning Chasing Tales on MGP Records. Here's what Pete has to say on some of his favourite albums.

MILES DAVIS - Kind Of BlueHearing this album for the first time was a one-moment-to-the-next turning point in my life! In fact, it was what truly turned me on to jazz. Me and thousands of others, I’m sure! Probably without realising it at the time, I was attracted to the lush warmth of the album, the consistent vibe from beginning to end and the freshness of the improvisation. Kind Of Blue introduced me not only to Miles, but also to all of the other musicians on the session. I had heard it whilst on a brief trip to Paris, and on my return home, I joined the local library in order to be able to take out all the related CDs that they had from the late 50s, early 60s (Cannonball, Coltrane, Wes Montgomery etc.).

WES MONTGOMERY - Full HouseWith Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb as rhythm section, this was the Wes album to go to after the initiation rites of Kind Of Blue! Add to that the ferocious tenor playing of Johnny Griffin, plus Wes dancing on top of the sequences, the result is a supremely upbeat straight-ahead jazz album. To be honest, the album that I have now (Full House) is not exactly the same as the one I bought originally: this one I’ve lost, and can’t find anywhere! (If anybody can help me track this set down, I’d be most grateful! I remember it including: Blue ’n’ Boogie; Jingles [incorrectly titled as Mr. Walker], and S.O.S. ).

PAT METHENY GROUP - TravelsNot that I’ll ever be asked on to Desert Island Discs, but if I had to take ‘just one record’, it may well be this one! You put it on, and it immediately bristles with the energy of an open air festival gig, performed by a band of young musical wizards. The opening track ‘Are You Going With Me?’ is awesome enough on its own with it’s hypnotic groove that builds and builds in textures and intensity, chorus after chorus. Pat’s Roland guitar synth sounds great on this - and wherever he uses it on the album.

Travels, to me, captures all of the ingredients that have made the Pat Metheny Group so successful over the years: the writing which couples strong melodic ideas with - at times - deceptively complex harmonies, and the overall group sound. Together with the brilliant Lyle Mays (very often in writing partnership), they created a group sound that balanced acoustic instruments with state-of-the-art synth gear. Pat is well recognised as an innovator of guitar sounds and, in my view, Lyle should be equally recognised for his contribution as a ‘sounds’ creator. Both frontmen sound entirely on top of their game, from the burning ‘Straight On Red’ to the beautiful ballads, such as ‘Farmer’s Trust’. Also, the addition (since the previous album) of Steve Rodby on bass was no minor contribution to the overall group sound!

PAT METHENY GROUP - Still Life (Talking)Four years on from Travels, this album is for me, the epitome of the Metheny/Mays writing partnership. This album plays from beginning to end without any desire to ‘skip’! It also produced four of Pat’s ‘hits’: Minuano, Last Train Home, It’s Just Talk, Third Wind. A masterpiece!

MICHAEL BRECKER (Eponymous)The second magnificent moment in my listening experience was when I heard Michael Brecker live in Paris, a year or so after the ‘Kind Of Blue’ experience as described above. MB was touring with his all-star band, his first album solely under his own name. The gig totally blew me away, and I subsequently bought the album. An entirely different personnel to the touring band, the recorded version was equally captivating - if slightly more ‘acoustic’ sounding than the live band (which included Jeff Andrews on electric bass and Mike Stern on guitar, as opposed to Charlie Haden on upright and Pat Metheny, guitar, on the record). I still love the zippy freshness of everybody’s playing, plus the very cool writing throughout. Nothing Personal quickly became a contemporary ‘standard’, and ‘The Cost Of Living’ was ballad of the year - or longer, for me!

JONI MITCHELL - Shadows And LightOf Joni’s albums, it was this or ‘Hejira’ for me. Shadows And Light wins because of the ‘live vibe’ - exactly as I described above for Travels. It also happens to feature a whole load of my favourite musicians: M. Brecker, P. Metheny, L. Mays and J.Pastorius! The album captures the peak of Joni’s ‘jazz period’, with songs mostly from Hejira, Mingus and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. Jaco is utterly brilliant on the album. You can hear him empathetically ‘playing the lyrics’ of Joni’s songs (particularly on Edith And The Kingpin) - and then you can hear his madcap brilliance on pieces such as ‘The Dry Cleaner From Des Moins’: Check out how - in a chordless trio (sax, bass, drums), Jaco mucks about all over the neck of the bass; plays with loads of space in places, harmonics etc., yet never do you feel the groove is lost!But above all, it’s the songs themselves. For me, Joni Mitchell is one of the greatest living artists, and my reasons for saying that are encapsulated on this album.

SYLIVIAN LUC - SudSylvain Luc is a truly outstanding guitarist and on this album, his skills are suitably complemented by the wonderful rhythm section of Jean-Marc Jaffet on double bass and André Ceccarelli on drums. This set sparkles with spontaneity from beginning to end. The opening ‘Night In Tunisia’, here in 5/4, is playful and totally unlaboured, all three guys sounding as if they are just playing it for the hell of it at a soundcheck….but with genius results! And so the album goes on. Sylvain Luc should be a National treasure in France!

OREGON - Live at Yoshi’sHere is another group that really created a ‘sound’ that has become identifiably theirs - and remained so for more than 4 decades. On this 2002 live recording, the band sounds truly fired up as if this were their first tour (as opposed to already having 30 years worth of Oregon gigs under their belts!). There are gripping cinematic pieces, moody works, stonkers such as ‘Short n’ Stout, and gorgeous textural ballads such as Ralph Towner’s ‘Distant Hills’. This is overall a pretty lush album, underpinned by some very happening grooves. The fact that it’s produced by Steve Rodby doesn’t hurt!

EGBERTO GISMONTI - Infancia

Egberto is a genius. See him play a gig: first half guitar, second half piano. The thing is, he doesn’t just play a regular guitar: mostly he’s playing either a 10 string or a 14 string - and these aren’t ‘double course’ guitars. Having played a first set on these specialist instruments, he then goes to the piano and is instantly virtuosically into it, as if he’s been doing nothing else other than warming up with Rachmaninov concertos, just prior to going onstage. The man is a one-off! He is also a very prolific composer and all of the above is expertly demonstrated on this stunning album.

The group is particularly appealing to me, including as it does, Jacques Morelenbaum on cello. This voice is most effective on the deeply beautiful ballads such as ‘A fala da paixao’ . This is one of those tracks that when it ends, I often start immediately again!

GENESIS - Selling England By The Pound

In the late 70s, I got into prog and today, this album still totally stands up within the genre. With the exception of ‘After The Ordeal’, I reckon that this is the business throughout. The lengthy ‘Battle Of Epping Forest’ is, to me, the ultimate, the proggiest of all prog tracks - anywhere! Why? Well, it has all of the prog ingredients exceedingly well put together! Firstly, it has a story (of a gangland rivalry) which is imbued with wit and wordplay. Peter Gabriel messes about with the gangsters’ accents, the camp Harold Demure (from Art Literature) and the obsequious butlers. It also has changing time signatures and lots of chords! But why is it so good? For me, it’s the way it all hangs together. There are no meandering instrumental sections and the time signatures (mostly in 7/4, this one) don’t sound ‘clever’. I think that this track is a true masterpiece within a great album!